Month: October 2024

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Spooky Scary Halloween 2024 with the IDHH

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As the month of October draws to an end, we enter the festivities of Halloween, Samhain, Allhallowtide, and Día de los Muertos. For some it’s spooky season, a time to delight in the macabre and darker side of life and death (and free candy); for others, it’s a time of religious rites and celebrations, including feasting, prayer and fasting, and remembrance.

Here are a few of our favorite Halloween-related images from IDHH contributors:

image of bookplate with skeleton sitting on a pile of books and reading a book.
John Comstock, Skeleton reader. March 06, 1922. West Chicago Public Library District. Cornelia Neltnor Anthony and Frank D. Anthony Book Plate Collection. Courtesy of the West Chicago Public Library District.
a group of children standing behind their decorated jack o lanterns that are resting on a table
Mount Greenwood Park (0251) Events – Holiday celebrations – Halloween, 1971. 1971. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records: Photographs. Courtesy of the Chicago Public Library.
stereo card of women bobbing for apples with one women holding an apple in her mouth
Halloween party stereo cards, 1899 [page 1]. 1899. Bensenville Community Public Library. Bensenville Historical Collection. Courtesy of the Bensenville Community Public Library.
image of a boy and a terrier dog touching a jack o lantern
Independence Park (0083) Events – Holiday celebrations – Halloween, undated. Chicago Public Library. Chicago Park District Records: Photographs. Courtesy of the Chicago Public Library.

 

Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view more items related to Halloween, pumpkins, and other spooky things, or to view more items from Bensenville Community Public Library, Chicago Public Library, or the West Chicago Public Library District.

You can also view the IDHH’s previous Halloween-related blog posts: